Great tips for 4th of July Fireworks!!!

I am not going to lie, one of the things I am most excited for during this wonderful 4th of July weekend is the opportunity to take some rockin’ fireworks photos with my new Canon 5D Mark II. This is no paid advertisement ladies, just a sweet little love affair. This baby takes pics in the night and can reel in enough light to make it look bright outside. This 21 mega-pixel monster can shoot at a really high ISO (camera speed) with little to no grain in the picture: BRILLIANT!

But keep in mind…you don’t need the most amazing camera to take great pictures. Check out these tip and tricks to shoot the best possible firework photos! The Digital Photography School highlights some of the necessary techniques for shooting really fantastic firework photos…and really, this is just one way to do it, but if you are looking for a different effect you just need to experiment, experiment, experiment!

1. A tripod will assist in keeping your camera still while shooting at the longer shutter speeds. Using the really slow shutter speeds will capture the movement and the necessary light to bring the display to life.

2. Use a Remote Release to reduce the movement of the camera during shooting. This is a device that is either connected to your camera via cord or through a wireless connection and will shoot the photo when you press the button.

3. Plan ahead; plan out where the best location will be for shooting, and where you can shoot to properly frame the fireworks in your photo.

4. Shoot with your camera set at wide angle in terms of the focal length. This will allow you to draw in as much of the action as possible.

5. Use an aperture setting anywhere from f/8 to f/16.

6. Shoot in a ‘bulb’ mode and open the shutter when the firework goes off, then take your finger off the trigger when it is done. This will allow the camera to catch the firework from start to finish.

7. Keep the ISO low to keep your photos less grainy, unless of course you have the 5D Mark II, then do whatever the heck you want with the ISO that’s below 6000.

8. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Depending on what effect you are looking for, you can try different things until you are happy with what you see.